Plenty of heroes for Zwaan to talk about

Staff photos by Tom Kelly IV
West Chester tight end Tim Brown (86) catches a pass and runs into the end zone for a touchdown. The West Chester University Golden Rams, defeated the Bloomsburg Huskies, Saturday afternoon November 30, 2013 by a score of 40 - 38 in the NCAA Division II, round two game.

BLOOMSBURG-After the 40-38 victory over Bloomsburg at Redman Stadium, WCU’s head coach Bill Zwaan had plenty to say about his team after the win.

And for good reason, because Saturday’s win was truly a team effort from start to finish.

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Sean McCartney continued his hot play at quarterback with 348 yards passing and three touchdowns. The fifth-year junior has thrown for 769 yards and seven touchdowns in West Chester’s two playoff

games. He became the fourth quarterback in school history to throw for 3,000 yards and 30 touchdowns in a season.

As usual, McCartney deferred credit to his teammates as Zwaan heckled him to giving credit to himself.

“I have to give the O-line props,”McCartney said.

“Not this again,” as Zwaan interrupted him laughing. “He’s freakin pretty good! He put the ball on the (darn) money a lot of times today.”

McCartney finished with thanking the running backs and receivers for putting him in good position to succeed.

“The defense gave him the ball too,” Zwaan said as he laughed.

As for the Golden Rams defense, 38 points and 533 yards allowed did not tell the tale of this matchup. Plenty of contributors forced turnovers and made necessary plays to preserve West Chester’s lead

throughout the game, the main one being sophomore defensive back Brandon Pepper.

Pepper, not a household name on the Golden Rams defense, came up with two big plays in the biggest game of the season to date.

The sophomore forced Bloomsburg workhorse running back Franklyn Quiteh to fumble for the first time in 232 carries. The fumble came at the end of a 43-yard run in a 14-3 game on a drive which the Huskies

surely would have scored.

Late in the fourth quarter, Pepper picked off Tim Kelly’s pass on a 3rd-and-4 at the Golden Rams 6 with3:29 left in a 40-31 game. That interception allowed West Chester to run some clock out and force

Bloomsburg to use all of its timeouts, virtually sealing the win.

“I took a chance and stared the receiver down and jumped (the route),” Pepper said. “That’s kind of how it worked.”

Pepper was part of a defense that forced five turnovers (four fumbles, one interception) that held the Bloomsburg offense in check for four quarters. He wasn’t the only key contributor on defense in this

classic.

Shawn Krautzel had a career-high 13 tackles along with a forced fumble. Drew Formica had eight tackles and recovered a fumble.

In a game where special teams were key, West Chester clearly had the edge this cold, windy day. Zwaan rightfully defended two specific players who defined the game, but aren’t mentioned in the headlines:

returner Brandon Monk and punter Rich Bruno.

Monk helped the Golden Rams average 21.2 yards on kickoff returns and 20.5 on punt returns.

Bruno averaged 47.5 yards per punt. The differenced resulted in excellent field position for the Golden Rams and poor field position for the Huskies throughout the day.

West Chester’s average starting field position was on their own 44; Bloomsburg: own 29.

“How is (Monk) not all-league? I didn’t say that,” Zwann said as the media laughed. “Same with (Rich). He’s the best punter in the league by five yards per punt and then kicks that 56-yarder late in the game. I’m not complaining or anything like that. So don’t take it that way.”

Shawn Leo also hit 4-of-5 field goals, including a 43-yarder late in the game to ice it for the Golden Rams. The four field goals tied a career-high. The only attempt Leo missed was a 53-yard kick in the second quarter.

“They asked me why you are kicking after the miss,” Zwaan said. “I knew he could do it. He’s the careerleader here. It came down to our great kicker and Shawn did a great job. He helped win the game for

us.”

West Chester wideout Tim Brown, another unheralded player on this talented team, had a career day as well for the Golden Rams. Brown had five catches for 112 yards and two touchdowns, all of which were

career highs.

Finally, Rondell White had the quietest 100-yard game of his career. White, a Harlon Hill Trophy finalist, had 27 carries for 113 yards, but the total was significant. White became the first player since November 10, 2012 to rush for 100 yards against Bloomsburg. White had 157 total yards on the day.

“The guys up front played with so much passion,” White said. “They created lanes for me to get those 5-to-7 yard runs. After that, I just need to make a couple guys miss.”

As for that offensive line, they only allowed one sack on the day.

West Chester truly had a total team effort in the win over Bloomsburg, which is what great teams have this late in the season. All you need to do is ask Bill Zwaan on how great this team is.

“We got 12 wins, which is the most in West Chester’s history,”Zwaan said. “This team certainly is one of the best, maybe the best, in West Chester history. I feel pretty good about that. We’re a (darn) good